News 2019

Astronomy/Space Science

NSF invests in cyberinfrastructure institute to harness cosmic dataThe National Science Foundation awarded the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and nine collaborating organizations, including the University of Washington, $2.8 million for a two-year "conceptualization phase" of the Scalable Cyberinfrastructure Institute for Multi-Messenger Astrophysics. SCIMMA's goal is to develop algorithms, databases and computing and networking cyberinfrastructure to help scientists interpret multi-messenger observations.

Astronomy / Space Science - 24.10.2019

NASA moon rocks help form new picture of early moon and EarthMost people only ever encounter rubidium as the purple color in fireworks, but the obscure metal has helped two University of Chicago scientists propose a theory of how the moon may have formed. Conducted in the lab of Prof. Nicolas Dauphas , whose pioneering research studies the isotopic makeup of rocks from Earth and the moon, the new study measured rubidium in both planetary bodies and created a new model to explain the differences.

Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 24.10.2019

Martian landslides not conclusive evidence of iceGiant ridges on the surface of landslides on Mars could have formed without ice, challenging their use by some as unequivocal evidence of past ice on the red planet, finds a new UCL-led study using state-of-the-art satellite data. Detailed three-dimensional images of an extensive landslide on Mars, which spans an area more than 55 kilometres wide, have been analysed to understand how the unusually large and long ridges and furrows formed about 400 million years ago.

Physics - Astronomy / Space Science - 23.10.2019

Theorists discover the ’Rosetta Stone’ for neutrino physicsUChicago, Brookhaven, Fermilab scientists find new math identity while studying particle physics Usually the way things work is that mathematicians make math discoveries, and physicists borrow and adapt those ideas to explain the universe. But three physicists at the University of Chicago and two national laboratories have discovered a fundamental identity in linear algebra-based on studying particle physics.

Sun explorer spacecraft leaves for launch siteThe European Space Agency's Solar Orbiter, which carries instruments proposed, designed and built at UCL, is completing final testing in Germany before travelling to Cape Canaveral, USA, for launch in February 2020. Solar Orbiter will perform unprecedented close-up observations of the Sun, to help answer questions about why the Sun's corona is so hot and why the solar wind flows away from the Sun so rapidly, typically at 400-500 kilometres per second.

Astronomy / Space Science - Chemistry - 17.10.2019

Ancient stars shed light on Earth’s similarities to other planetsEarth-like planets may be common in the universe, a new UCLA study implies. The team of astrophysicists and geochemists presents new evidence that the Earth is not unique. The study was published on Oct. 18. “We have just raised the probability that many rocky planets are like the Earth, and there's a very large number of rocky planets in the universe,” said co-author Edward Young, UCLA professor of geochemistry and cosmochemistry.

Astronomy / Space Science - 16.10.2019

Astronomer gets best look at first comet from outside our solar systemDavid Jewitt, a UCLA professor of planetary science and astronomy, has captured the best and sharpest look at a comet from outside of our solar system that recently barged into our own. It is the first interstellar comet astronomers have observed. Comet 2I/Borisov (the “I” stands for interstellar) is following a path around the sun at a blazing speed of approximately 110,000 miles per hour, or about as fast as Earth travels around the sun.

Astronomy / Space Science - 15.10.2019

Astronomers use giant galaxy cluster as X-ray magnifying lensAstronomers at the University of Chicago, MIT and elsewhere have used a massive cluster of galaxies as an X-ray magnifying glass to peer back in time, to nearly 9.4 billion years ago. In the process, they spotted a tiny dwarf galaxy in its very first, high-energy stages of star formation. While this technique has been used to magnify objects at optical wavelengths, this is the first time scientists have leveraged it to zoom in on extreme, distant X-ray-emitting phenomena.

Astronomy / Space Science - Earth Sciences - 14.10.2019

Q&A: How exploring Venus could unlock our understanding of Earth’s futureAs the EnVision mission to Venus is preparing for its planned launch in 2032, we speak to the Imperial researcher who is a part of the Science Team. With its extremely high temperatures and surface veiled by thick clouds, Venus represents an unusual example of planet formation and evolution. Once thought to be a tropical paradise, it was only in the 1960s that scientists were able to observe its hostile environment.

Astronomy / Space Science - 14.10.2019

Astronomers use giant galaxy cluster as X-ray magnifying lensNew lens technique spots tiny dwarf galaxy in the first, super-energetic stages of star formation. Boston Globe reporter Maria Lovato writes that MIT researchers used a large galaxy cluster to see the X-rays emitted by a galaxy 9.4 billion light-years away. "Using data from NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory," writes Lovato, "the astronomers studied the Phoenix galaxy cluster 5.7 billion light-years away and were able to see the youn

Astronomy / Space Science - Environment - 10.10.2019

What moons in other solar systems reveal about planets like Neptune and JupiterWhat is the difference between a planet-satellite system as we have with the Earth and Moon, versus a binary planet — two planets orbiting each other in a cosmic do-si-do? I am an astronomer interested in planets orbiting nearby stars, and gas giants — Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune in our solar system — are the largest and easiest planets to detect.

Astronomy / Space Science - Environment - 10.10.2019

River relic spied by Mars ExpressMars may seem to be an alien world, but many of its features look eerily familiar - such as this ancient, dried-up river system that stretches out for nearly 700 kilometres across the surface, making it one of the longest valley networks on the planet. The area of Mars shown in these new images from ESA's Mars Express spacecraft lies just south of the planet's equator, and is known to have been shaped by a mix of flowing water and impacts: events where rocks sped inwards from space to collide with the martian surface.

Astronomy / Space Science - Event - 10.10.2019

This Nobel Prize makes EPFL's astrophysicists proudIn 2002, EPFL awarded the distinction of doctor honoris causa to Michel Mayor, an astronomer at the University of Geneva, for discovering the first exoplanet. This past Tuesday, Mayor, along with colleague Didier Quéloz and the American scientist James Peebles, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics.

Astronomy / Space Science - Physics - 09.10.2019

Scientists Observe Year-long Plateaus in Decline of Type Ia Supernova Light CurvesA team of scientists, including a researcher from the University of Birmingham, has discovered that the fading of infrared light following Type Ia supernovae explosions can be interrupted, with brightness staying the same for up to a year. This is a surprising finding as astronomers had expected that the light curve would not only continue decreasing but even experience a sharp drop, rather than flattening into a plateau.

Astronomy / Space Science - 09.10.2019

Astronauts and citizens team up against light pollutionFor an astronaut looking out of the International Space Station windows, city lights are brighter than the stars. To tackle light pollution citizen scientists are urged to help map out the problem on their smartphones by identifying images of cities taken from space. Astronaut pictures are the highest-resolution, colour images of night available from orbit.

Astronomy / Space Science - Environment - 09.10.2019

Liquifying a rocky exoplanetA hot, molten Earth would be around 5% larger than its solid counterpart. This is the result of a study led by researchers at the University of Bern. The difference between molten and solid rocky planets is important for the search of Earth-like worlds beyond our Solar System and the understanding of Earth itself.

Earth Sciences - Astronomy / Space Science - 08.10.2019

Global analysis of submarine canyons may shed light on Martian landscapesOn a map, submarine canyons seem identical to land canyons - so much so that researchers surmised they are shaped by the same physical laws. New research reveals distinct differences for the first time. Submarine canyons are a final frontier on planet Earth. There are thousands of these breathtaking geological features hidden within the depths of the ocean - yet scientists have more high-resolution imagery of the surface of Mars than of Earth's ocean floor.

Astronomy / Space Science - 08.10.2019

Nobel Prize in Physics awarded to Michel Mayor and Didier QuelozMichel Mayor and Didier Queloz were awarded the 2019 Nobel Prize in Physics for their discovery of the first exoplanet in 1995. On October 6, 1995, Michel Mayor, Professor at the Observatory of the Faculty of Science of the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and the doctoral candidate Didier Queloz revolutionized the world of astrophysics when they announced the discovery of the first planet located outside our solar system.

Astronomy / Space Science - Environment - 08.10.2019

A dormant volcano: the black hole at the heart of our galaxy3.5 million years ago, a supermassive black hole at the heart of our Galaxy spat out an enormous flare. Our researchers worked with an international team to make the discovery. Physicist and astronomy expert, Professor Joss Bland-Hawthorn explains how they did it. The supermassive black hole at the heart of our Galaxy spat out an enormous flare of radiation 3.5 million years ago that would have been clearly visible from Earth.